Brussels, 01/04/2008 (Agence Europe) - At the inauguration of the European Wind Power Conference on Monday 31 March 2008, the European commissioner for energy, Andris Piebalgs, called for increased use of wind power and support for developing this industry.
Using figures to back up his case, Piebalgs immediately pointed out that among all the renewable energies developed in the EU, wind power was obtaining the most promising results: with an increase of more than 85000 megawatts (MW) last year with a capacity of close to 57,000 MW, for nearly 4% of EU power demand compared to less than 1% of EU electricity in 2000. He affirmed that, “if we want to keep this growth momentum, and even increase it, and to remain a world leader in wind energy, we have to secure a favourable framework for the development of wind in the European Union”. He also defended the idea of a legal framework for promoting renewables, as proposed in January by the European Commission in its climate change package (EUROPE 9586). He stressed: “It is clear that the 20% RES target for EU by 2020 will require a substantial contribution from wind energy. In the context of the Renewable Energy Roadmap, presented last January, projections carried out for the Commission showed that the 20% share could be reached with a 34% share of renewable electricity consumption in electricity sector, including a 12% share of wind in EU's electricity mix, of which 1/3rd could come from offshore installations”. Although offshore wind energy has promising prospects, it faces the same challenges as onshore wind energy - slow reinforcement and extension of the electricity grid, the need for improved grid management tools that will allow for large scale integration of wind energy, delays in authorisation procedures, unfair grid integration conditions), it also faces a significant challenge that, “Without it no offshore wind farms will be built. As this is not yet in place, it must be developed fairly quickly and a central question is how it should be financed', explained Mr Piebalgs, who promised that there would be an action plan to develop offshore wind energy in September. The commissioner welcomed the joint commitment of Germany, Denmark and Sweden in evaluating the environmental impact of this kind of energy off their shores. Piebalgs called on the EU27 to step up cooperation to guarantee the development of this technology. He also underlined the role of the off-shore interconnection project coordinator in the North and Baltic Seas, George Wilhelm Adamovitsch. When it comes to infrastructure, he welcomed industry's proposal to create a pan-European sub-sea energy grid, called “Supergrid”. And on R1D, Mr Piebalgs pointed out that the Strategic Energy Technology Plan adopted in November 2007 proposes a new wind energy technology policy. He also said that the 7th framework programme for R&D includes two wind energy projects: the large-scale EWIS (European Wind Integration Study) and a similar project, “Tradewind”, that formulates recommendations for the improvement of internal electricity market rules to better accommodate the integration of large-scale wind energy. Mr Piebalgs also mentioned the “Downwind” demonstration project for the establishment of offshore wind turbines sited adjacent to the Beatrice oil field, off the east coast of Scotland, and “Norsewind”, which aims to provide a wind resource map covering the Baltic, Irish and North Sea areas, as well as a 77 MW demonstration project using onshore turbines to be installed close to Estinnes, Belgium.
Nearly 4,000 professionals and political decision-makers are taking part in the conference from 31 March to 3 April in Brussels, organised by the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) and chaired by Arthouros Zervos to discuss wind energy potential (integration into the internal electricity market, financing of projects, policies and programmes, development of installations at sea, market evolution and the structure of the industry, environmental issues and global stakes). Participants at the event include Slovenian Economy Minister and Council President Andrej Vizjak, the Belgian, French and Portuguese energy ministers, Paul Magnette, Jean-Louis Borloo and Manuel Pinho, as well as MEP Britta Thomsen (PES, Denmark). (E.H.)